Armani style and spirit close the Milan fashion shows

Uncomfortable, confusing times call for clarity and security: this was the real theme of Milan's short-lived fashion week. The answer to such a quest is natural; obvious one might say, but also effective: to look at the known, the already made, in short the classics - shared or one's own, and therefore archetypes or archives - and remake them, creating continuity instead of rupture.

At Giorgio Armani, the temple of the softest classicism, everything changes so as not to change at all; gusts of fresh air come in through the window and put new order in the cards but do not upset them.

"I started with dense and bright colours, silky and iridescent materials, which I mixed with our opaque and precious wools, obtaining a mixture for which Giorgio, I think, would have been surprised," says Leo Dell'Orco, who makes his official debut at the helm of the men's collection, remaining faithful to the code and moving it by a few but significant millimetres.

At Armani, at this time, it is the wisest decision, not least because the brand's founding aesthetic, rediscovered by the younger generation, is as influential as ever. On the catwalk, it is all there, but with an impalpable lightness, with a playful instinctiveness that has been missing for a while, and which is underlined by the decision to make women wear men's clothes too, with the only difference being that stiletto heels replace the round, chunky lace-ups.

Challenged by the comparison, Dell'Orco concludes: 'I think Giorgio would have said of this test: you are learning well.